Life as we know it
by im-incognito
Summary: Set a few weeks after the end of the titan war, Percy and Annabeth's quests between TLO and TLH. I suppose it would be called Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

1: Why I feel like my brain's dripping out my ears.

Mornings have never been good for me; I don't suppose they're good for anyone. But this morning, gods I felt horrendous.

All I remember of last night is that I was out on a date with Annabeth, daughter of Athena. My best friend and for the past few  
weeks my girlfriend. Well, all I remember is that we were out on a date, traipsing around Manhattan like we were the only people in this city. And well being demi-gods and being unlucky as we were a monster  
found, and attacked us. Only a hellhound. Nothing we couldn't handle, but that's not the point. It ruined absolutely everything. You'd think that after the summer we'd had, the gods would've given us a break.  
But wow, how wrong would you be.

Anyway, back to the point. Annabeth had just stabbed the thing while I kept it distracted, she'd managed to do it undetected wearing her invisibility cap. Honestly, I could've taken it down by myself and so could she, but we had to make things short and sweet. So hellhound gone, Annabeth wiping monster goo off her knife, me astounded by her beauty in the sunset. Just how things should be. Grinning inanely as I jogged to her side, I slipped my arm around her waist and we carried on with our evening.

We strolled along the harbour like a couple seriously in love, which I suppose we were. I think, I hope. The sunset threw reds and pinks across the coast. The sea has always been my favourite place in the whole world. It's a part of me. See, thing is my dad's a Greek god, like Annabeth's mom, goddess of wisdom and battle strategies. My dad, Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes. So the ocean being one of the only places I honestly enjoyed being, comes as no surprise.

Realising that it was getting late, and that we both had school the next day, we headed for home. I dropped Annabeth off at her dorm as if nothing had happened. And I supposed it was normal for us to get attacked outside the boundaries of camp, one of the only places that demi-gods, like us could be safe. So I dropped Annabeth off at her student house with a kiss. It wasn't as unexpected as it used to be, but it still sent my mind reeling. I still caught my breath in my throat every time we'd part and she'd look at me with her startling, deep grey eyes. So on a high, I turned with reluctance and headed home too.

Not paying the most attention to where I was going, I ended up walking into a few people, and lampposts, and cars, and walls.

Can you blame me? You see, Annabeth's got this thing about her, she's domineering and intelligent, and she's a natural born leader. And although I'm as stubborn as they come, I can't help but follow her every command. Her skin is tanned, flawless and smooth as a baby's rear. She's got blond hair that falls in a cascade of curls past her shoulders. Princess curls. Now, she's got a streak of grey, like me, from bearing the weight of the sky a few years back. And her eyes, captivating, analysing, beautiful.

It took me twice the normal time to get home, about ten minutes. As I walked down the hallway to my mother's, step father's and my apartment. I was completely oblivious to the elderly woman from the  
apartment next door scowling at me.  
"Boy!" she screeched at me in the same voice she used everyday to torment me. It brought me out of my train of thought. I turned, trying  
to hide my annoyance  
"Yes, Ms Mingay?" I replied, trying to sound at least civil. The witch sneered at me distastefully.  
"I have another job for you, boy." and with that she turned I had to follow, or I'd be paying for it later.

Her flat, stained yellow with cigarette smoke and smelling of stale alcohol (I knew the smell well, mom's ex-husband, Gabe, was no stranger to booze), was the mirror image of my own. She led me into a room that would have been mom and Paul's, which was obviously the woman's living room. Here she lounged on a frail rocking chair, granny  
style, along with balls of yarn and knitting needles on the table beside it. I stared down at her incredulously, my black hair falling  
into my line of sight.

"There's a spider in my bedroom. Get it out." she snapped at me. We'd gone through this routine a countless amount of times. But today the spider had to be in a really awkward place. It hung, almost innocently, from her abnormally high ceiling, in the middle of the room. The only way I would be able to reach it would be if I stood on the corner of her bedside cabinet and leaned over, ready to be out of there I simply climbed and reached out.

It was easier than it seemed, climbing the cabinet and stretching to the spider. I plucked it from its web instantly. And know me, I fell. I landed on my knees and flew forward towards the base of the bed. It  
would've broken my nose had it not been for my invincibility. But gods did it hurt. I slowly got up, still clutching the spider in my hand  
and I headed out the door.

I released the spider into the wilderness which was the flower bed outside my bedroom window; the moonlace I had gotten from Calypso's garden glowed in the light of the moon that had taken the place of the sun. I sighed and drifted to my bed. With a headache that could only be described as what felt like a chisel being force up my nasal cavity and into my brain. Where I passed out instantly.

6


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: I annoy my gym teacher, and he blows a hole in the wall. 

So as Paul Blowfis stuck his head around my bedroom door to wake me, my only thought was how much I resented the fact that Paul was also my English and Drama teacher as well as my step-dad. There was no way that I could get away with being late for school while we lived under the same roof.

"I'm leaving in ten, unless you want to walk to school in the rain, I suggest you get up." I knew he was bluffing. But I figured I wouldn't get much done if I stayed in bed.

I shuffled into the bathroom and turned on the shower, willing the water to heat up instantly. One of the perks of being son of the sea god I suppose. After a few minutes I stepped out and willed myself dry. Another thing I should be grateful to Dad for. The way that I could make things instantly dry saved Mom a lot of money, we never needed to use the communal dryer that our apartment block offered. I never needed a towel which lessened the pile of washing that had to be done. Things like that.

I was ready and at the breakfast table in 5 minutes, scarfing down blue pancakes with syrup. An explaination, Gabe, had once told mom that there was no such thing as blue food. So she went out of her way to make it. Blue birthday cakes, blue cookie, blue pancakes. That and the fact that blue was my favourite colour. Paul walked in and sighed.

"We're going to be late" We weren't. We never were. Still, I drained my glass of water and threw the remains of my breakfast in the bin. In the car, we chatted about trivial things. Annabeth. Exams. Camp. He wanted to know what I was planning for Annabeth's birthday. Which was in a few days. I told him that we were going to Camp Half Blood for the weekend, seeing as Annabeth's family still lived in San Fransisco. And all of our friends would be there. Annabeth had been at camp since she was 7, she's was turning 16 in a matter of days. I remembered that I still hadn't got her a present.

We arrived at school at the regular time. Half an hour before lessons started at 9. No one else really got here until quarter to. So I sat under my regular tree in the grounds and waited for them to file in through the large cast iron gates. Nico di Angelo arrived almost last. Shadow travelling to an alley around a corner and strutting through the gates. He's four years younger than me, though you wouldn't think so. He's just as tall as I am with jet black hair that reaches just above his shoulders. His eyes, almost as dark as his hair, showed pain like no one elses. He had felt pain unlike what many other had felt. but being the son of hades, he had to deal with it. He walked over to me and hauled me up off the floor. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Shadow travelling across America wears the poor kid out. But he would probably take a nap in algebra, like I was going to take a nap in chemistry. Walking through the halls to our first lessons he told me about his latest argument with his father and Persephone.

"Perce, it's never normally this bad. It's like he resents me for letting you be the child of the prophecy. I mean, he's always resented the fact that I'd survived and Bianca didn't." He looked at me for answers, even though he knew that I could never offer him an explaination as to why his dad torments him so much about his sister's death. I was never any good at figuring stuff out. That's Annabeth's job.

I left him outside his classroom and headed towards my history lesson. At the moment we were studying WWI and WWII. Hardly interesting, you'd think. But if you knew the real reason behind it, you would be all ears. Truth be told, Hitler was a child of hades, like Nico. I'd never tell him, but after I found out why the second world war really happened, I was scared of what Nico could do. After an hour of debating whether or not new advancments in weaponary affected the course of the wars, I was ready to be out of there.

My next lesson was gym. I was pretty sporty, a quick runner. I was on the school football team. I wasn't to bad at baseball either. Although neither were my sport. Swimming. Now that's were I really excelled. Although I wouldn't allow myself to join the team. Cause it just wouldn't be fair. So I didn't compete in swimming competitions. Period. I changed swiftly and walked into the gym hall. _Dang_. I thought, _sub teacher._ The man was stood by the wall beneath the basket ball hoop at the edge of the room. He had a cruel face, like those of the ares campers. Kitted out with Wrap-around shades and tattoos up and down his arms. A bleach blond crew cut perched on his head, making his face look redder than it already was. Looking around, I saw that I was still the only student in the room. _Double dang! _His mouth shaped into an evil grin as a snarl ripped from his chest. _Oh for the love of hades! _Could these beasts not leave me alone? Thankfully for me, the other students filed into the hall, and the smirk on the man's face disappeared. I decided my best chance would be to get to my denim's in the locker room and grab Riptide, my faithful pen/3 ft long celestial bronze sword, out of the pocket and defend myself from whatever this bloke turned out to be.

"Right class, my name is Aristotel Hardwick. But it is Mr Hardwick to you little brats." His grin found his face again as he glared at us. The poor class he got to torture for the next hour. I glanced at my wrist, relieved that I still had my watch on. It was a gift from my half brother Tyson, a Cyclops, that lived in my dad's under water palace.

The man's shades glinted in the sunlight seeping through the window. He threw another harsh look in my direction. Like his mouth was watering from the anticipation of turning me into rubble. My anger suddenly boiled inside me. I felt a sudden urge to nut the geeky, ginger kid stood awkwardly next to me. My vision blurred with images of war, death, demi-gods sparring indefinitely until one of them landed a hit on they're opponent. The wounded sank to the floor and faded. Only one person could make me feel this way, and it certainly wasn't anyone in the class. _Aristotel, Aris.. Ares! _My mind confirmed the situation that I had wanted to avoid.

"Perseus Jackson." Ares jeered as if reading my name of a register. Which I suppose he was. Flames licked the tops of his sunglasses, dancing as they melted the black plastic. I don't know what the rest of the kids in there saw. But they didn't offer any hints.

The rest of the lesson went without a serious event. I suppose Ares was waiting for it to be the two of us again. He had changed his sunglasses half way through the lesson. Replacing the half melted once with a pair exactly the same. By the end of the hour everyone was bruised and practically half dead. All except from Ares and I. As the rest of the class crawled into the changing rooms, Ares caught my arm. Heat erupted over my whole body. Still only a slight of the pain I felt when I took my dip in the Styx. The fire that was taking over me subsided, and I realised that he had released his grip. Only to me replaced by more rage. I turned and faced the god of war , whose glasses were now a puddle of melted goo on the floor.

"What do you want Ares?" I snapped at him. Not a smart move. But I couldn't help myself. His face was younger than it was last time I saw him. But his eyes still burned with the same intensity they always had. Literally. Ares chuckled lightly to himself.

"Actually, I have no particular quarrel with you today. But since you're so up for it.." He finally noticed that I had my gym shorts on, and frowned. His two handed blade grew in his hands. As Riptide appeared in front of me with a "pop". I snatched the pen out of the air and uncapped, feeling the familiar weight and comfort. I adopted an offensive stance. And glared ahead of me. A thought crept into my head. Something Chiron had told me before I had set off on my first quest.

"_Gods cannot cross eachother's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes on the other hand. Have certain privialeges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they are bold enough and strong enough to do it." _ I lowered my sword. If Ares and I were going to fight, I would have to make the first move. And I'm no where near that stupid. Ares' stupid grin faltered as he realised what I was doing. He couldn't bait me into a fight today. He hated that. A new wave of anger flowed through me, but I resisted it. I turned on my heel and sauntered to the changing room, but then, the wall next to me imploded. I was going to be in trouble with the cops.. Again. _Nice one Boar Breath._ I cursed in my head. Ares' grin had returned.

"Seriously. I've got better things to do too. That's actually why I came here. I need a job done." If he was trying to get my attention, well, I was all ears. "I need to you get me something. And lets just say that if you do it, I might just take off that little curse I put on you a while back." Honestly, my mouth was watering at the idea of this. I mean, I get into fights a lot, and I didn't have to be a genius to know that my curse could affect me when I needed it most. Like it had when I was fighting Atlas.

"What do you want me to do?" I was wary though. Ares could be leading me into a slaughter.

"Oh, I don't know yet, that oracale of yours will though." A sly smile playing on his lips, making him looking nothing but evil in the harsh light. I was out of options really, if I did it, I could get my curse taken off, but someone could get hurt. And more likely, Ares was lying. On the other hand, if I said no, I'd be turned into dust.

"Swear on the River Styx that you'll take off my curse." Thunder boomed. Ares nodded solemmly. "And that no one will get seriously hurt while I'm trying to find it?" His brow furrowed.

"That's for the prophecy to decide." I sighed in defeat.

"Fine. I'll do it." And I stalked out of the room in a huff.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Apparently, I'm right for once. 

As soon as I was out of the changing rooms I broke into a run. It was lunch, and everyone was looking at me like I was some psychopath. If only they'd seen me fight. When I reached mine and Nico's regular spot he knew that something was up. So in a rush I told him, his eyes practically bulging out of his head by the time I was done.

"There's only one thing for it." He said with a hint of pride, as if he figured the whole thing out by himself. "We need to get to Clarion Ladies' Academy."

Together we bolted out the gates to Annabeth's school. Maybe she'd be able to make a guess at what this thing was. Within 20 minutes, we were stood looking up at Tribeca All-Girls Preparatory School, only a few minutes walk from Meriwether College Prep. The school I went to, for only one year, while I was 13. Being so close to the place brought back memories, it was where I first met Tyson, and it was the place that Annabeth had saved us from cannibal Canadians. Nico and I looked at each other warily; I'd never been inside the building. Outside. But never, in. We stayed close as we waded through a sea of girls. It was lunch there too. I had my eyes on a building that looked kind of like a student centre. It was low, with orange bricks like the rest of the school. With Nico on my heels I strode into the building. _Yep, student centre._ I thought. The walls were a bland grey; the fake pine desk was covered in papers. Two or three chunky computers buzzed in the corners of the office area.

A large woman, with icy blue eyes smiled kindly at me.

"Can I help you dearies?" her voice was honest and carefree. I glanced back at Nico, who nodded slightly.

"Can you help me find a student? It's very important." My voice firm and angry. I obviously hadn't calmed down after my audience with Ares. The lady straightened up in her heavily cushioned chair.

"Of course, may I ask who and for what reason?" _Shoot_. I shouted harshly in my head. Nico saved me.

"We're looking for Annabeth Chase, she's our cousin. Something has happened within our family and she needs to be pulled out of school immediately." He gave the most innocent look that he could. "Could you please tell us where she may be?" The lady hit a few keys on the keyboard in front of her and sighed.

"She has 3D drawing next period after lunch. That is in the design area. Though she spends the majority of her lunches in the library, I think that you would have more chance finding her there. She hasn't missed a single lesson this year." The woman beamed proudly. Obviously this school kept a very close eye on the whereabouts of their students. _Slightly creepy. _I noticed that Nico had a look on his face like he was thinking the exact same as I was.

"Umm, thank you, thank you very much." I said. Eager to get out of the room with the fat lady. I pulled Nico out of the building behind me. He didn't need much convincing though.

We found the Library easily enough. On the way there, I had noticed security cameras everywhere; they seemed to follow us as we heading towards the other buildings. The walls inside were piled floor to ceiling with books. How Annabeth could even breathe with all these musty old pages surrounding her was surprising. But then my Annabeth was one to stick to something she loved. Even if it was going to get her killed someday.

We found her in a corner of the large room sat at a table covered in old books. Swiftly, we walked to where she could see us and I coughed loudly. She didn't look up. She must've been listening to music, or she'd just chosen to ignore us. We walked up to her table where she was sat, behind a curtain of blond hair, streaked with grey, the same colour as her eyes. She was hunched over some strange book. I coughed again. Obviously annoyed that we'd interrupted her reading. She glared coldly at us for about two milliseconds. Then realised who we were. And jumped up giving Nico an awkward one armed hug and then gave me a kiss on the cheek as she laced her hand through mine. It would've been heavenly if not for the reason that we were there.

"Seaweed brain." She squeaked with excitement of this surprised visit. "What are you guys doing here? You're supposed to be picking me up _after_ school remember?" It was a rhetorical question. I guessed that she was trying to be playful and romantic. But I wasn't in the mood. Seeing Annabeth had washed away all of my anger. Yet I was still worried about the quest we were undoubtedly going to have to take. Noticing that I hadn't said anything since we'd actually got there, she stared intently into my eyes for a few milliseconds. "What's wrong? What's happened?" Her beautiful eyes darted across my body and then Nico's to see if we were hurt. Satisfied that we weren't, she gestured for us to sit down with a relieved sigh.

I quickly told her about my conversation with Ares, explaining that we had to go find Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our oracle, to receive a quest. Without any hesitation, Annabeth declared that she was going. I wouldn't have been happy any other way, knowing that she wasn't with me. But after the war with the Titans, where she'd been stabbed, I was extremely cautious about her safety. Yet her eyes shone with anticipation, and I simply couldn't say no. I looked at my girlfriend, then at my cousin, who was twiddling his thumbs trying to ignore mine and Annabeth's loved up expressions no doubt.

"We need to get to camp." He muttered under his breath. Even though he had his own cabin, his own table, and he was accepted at camp just as his father was accepted as an Olympian council member at each day of the year. He still disliked the place. I couldn't see why. He spent most of the year in the Underworld, then shadow travelling to go to school with me. Annabeth, Grover, Tyson and I were pretty much the only people he trusted. This meant we were the only people he talked to.

We left the library after helping Annabeth put all of her books back in the correct places. The witch surveying us as we did so, tutted every time Nico and I put a book in the wrong place. It was typical really. She wouldn't help, yet at the same time she couldn't help pointing it out every time we got it incorrect. The whole situation reminded me of a monster we had met on our travels in the labyrinth last year. A sphinx, it had made Annabeth do a trivial quiz, and Annabeth would've passed with flying colours, if she hadn't thrown a fit. Anyway, we finished putting away all of the books and we left in a hurry. We had decided while we were putting the books away that we'd better stop off at my place to tell mum and Paul, I guessed that he'd be annoyed that I had left school early without consent, but when I'd told him why he'd be fine. I hope. He may have been in on the whole 'demi-god' thing, but that didn't mean he wasn't annoyed when I left school early to embark on some quest.

Before we left, Annabeth took us both up to her room so that she could get some belongings. She always had her knife, her invisibility cap and a golden drachma with her. But things like mortal money, directions to camp, and Daedalus' laptop she kept locked away in her room. She pulled us inside the room. It was sea blue, my favourite colour. It made me smile. I doubted that it was Annabeth's choice, but the coincidence was quite amusing. I laid down on the bed that had to be my girlfriend's. On the bedside table was a photo of the pair of us after last year's camp. Nico sat at the desk on her roommate's side. Coated in dark colours and shadows. It looked as if he was enjoying himself in misery land. Annabeth looked at us both and sighed, obviously our comfort annoyed her. Her mind was working over time I knew. It's just how she is. She pulled a yellow duffel bag from underneath her bed and started packing clothes, toiletries, other essentials. She passed a worried glance over to her desk with the laptop on it. She'd gotten it when Daedalus passed away a few years ago, he'd given her all of his ideas, it was her most prized possession. A pained expression crossed over her face and was quickly wiped away.

"Take it with you." I said. She was going to need it. "You'll only regret it if you left it here." She knew I was right, for once. Reluctantly, she shoved it into a case and put it with the rest of her things. After half an hour, we were ready. We got on the subway and headed to my apartment. We'd agreed to spend the night there.

At my place, everything was fine. Mom made blue food, Nico killed zombies on my games console in the lounge while Annabeth and I chatted about what our next move was.

Later that evening, Nico and I set up camp on the living room floor while Annabeth dumped her stuff on my bedroom floor. We kissed in the hallway and went to bed. My daze helped me drift into a sleep filled with nightmares about the times that my sword might fail me, again…

In the morning we took a cab to camp. It cost a lot. But Chiron, the camp director, sorted our fees.

We were sat at the pinochle table on the veranda of the big house, camp's headquarters as some would say. Drinking diet cokes supplied by Mr D, Dionysus, god of Wine, whatever you want to call him. He wasn't as cruel to me as he used to be, considering I'd kept his only remaining son out of the final battle of during the war with the titans after his brother had died the year before. Mr D sat reading his wine connoisseurs magazine while Chiron Annabeth and I talked about what we had to do. Nico had gone down to the arena to train. I absentmindedly wondered where Grover was. I hoped that he hadn't turned into a fatty like the other lords of the wild. I scanned the line of trees searching for him or Juniper, his dryad girlfriend. Annabeth brought me back into the conversation.

"Percy." She snapped her fingers in my face, gesturing to Chiron. "Tell him exactly what Ares said." Her scowl fading into an encouraging smile.

So I recounted the events of the day before. Starting at where I'd met Nico before school. And finishing where we had got in the cab this morning. Every so often Chiron would press for more details. But the more I tried to remember, the less I could. Like the anger I had been feeling had wiped my memory clean. When I finished my story Chiron swished his tail nervously.

I suppose I should explain, Chiron is a centaur. He's also a son of Kronos, king of the titans. But that's not something that he goes around telling people. He skittered about anxiously, trying to decide what we should do.

"Go, take Mrs O'Leary to Clarion Ladies Academy and return with Rachel. I express my concerns that she should not reveal the prophecy some place where I can not assist if something were to happen to her." Chiron had a soft spot for Little Miss Dare, a clear sighted mortal I had met while on a quest to save Lady Artemis and Annabeth. She'd become the Oracle at the end of the Titan war, when Hades' children had finally been accepted and the curse on the old oracle had been lifted. I could see why Chiron was worried though, it would be Rachel's second prophecy. The first hadn't been a disaster, but I agreed, a cautious approach was the best.

I told Annabeth to go and iris message our parents from the fountain in my cabin. It was the second that had been in there, the first, I had sliced in two when Nico's dead sister, Bianca, was sending me messages to help protect him. Dad had sent another, with an unlimited supply of drachmas, so that I could call whoever I wanted however many times I wanted.

I gave her a long hug and a quick kiss on the lips. And I headed to the sword fighting arena where Nico and Mrs O'Leary hopefully were. As I entered through the gates, I saw Nico stood with his back to me, with his arms folded, staring down the hellhound. My walk turned to a run and soon I could here what the boy was saying to the tank size mastiff.

"Mrs O'Leary, I know I may look like a dummy, but I can assure you that I am not." He wasn't angry though. I could hear the humour in his voice. I saw that he was coated in saliva. And soon enough. I was too. Mrs'Oleary bounded over playfully when she saw me. Licking my body head to toe as I protested wriggled and squirmed, trying to get away from her slobbery mouth.

After a few minutes, her excitement ebbed and I threw a large celestial bronze shield as a Frisbee for herto catch. After a few minutes of fetch I gave her a scratch behind the ear as I told her and Nico that I'd be taking Mrs O'Leary to Clarion Ladies Academy to get Rachel. Nico led us into a dark part of the forest near Zeus' Fist. The shadows of the trees stretching across the clearing. He gave me a leg up onto Mrs O'Leary's back and told her where we were going. And within seconds, we were racing through the shadows and landed halfway across the country.

**A/N: Sorry this is a bit late, I'm in way over my head with coursework atm. :/**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: I take a cross country hound trip.

Rachel's school is this big red brick mansion that was turned into an academy by some tycoon in the 60s. The south grounds had tennis courts and a swimming pool, the east and west, forests and the north a huge stable and riding paddock. Rachel did not fit in here. I left Mrs O'Leary in the woods on the east of the main building and wandered through the gardens looking for a fountain or even better, our oracle.

My eyes landed on a small, but beautiful marble water feature surrounded by colourful flowerbeds. A girl with long black hair sat with her back towards me. I put on my hopeful face and walked up to her slowly.

"Excuse me," she turned around. "Do you know Rachel Elizabeth Dare?" Her warm brown eyes curiously looked me up and down.

"She's in my art class."

"Can you take me to her please?" She stood and motioned for me to follow. We walked back to the building in silence, as we passed the stables a flood of voices entered my head. I looked over to see the row of horses with their head bowed. I nodded back. The girl looking quizzically at me.

"What, I like horses." The girl sniggered. "I'm Percy." I held my hand out for her to shake.

"Lily." She didn't take my hand. We walked through a large wooden door leading into the main building, the high ceiling making me feel like I was in some sort of pit. "Art room's this way. Rachel's always hanging out in there."

She led the way through another door and into a small hallway and stopped. "It's last on the left." She nodded good bye and exited. _They sure are friendly here. _I continued down the hall and walked into the studio.

Large canvases filled the room. All four of the walls were covered in student work. Rachel was hunched over a table splattering paint over a piece of paper.

"Rachel." I tried to sound as cheery as I could. Her red head popped up revealing her freckly face and piercing green eyes, very fitting for the oracle I'd always thought.

"Percy!" I was tackled and almost hit the floor.

"Ughh… Nice to see you too." I groaned. She let go of my waist and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"You're not here to just say hi are you?" Her grin turned into a disappointed pout. I sat on the table and told her about the past two days. She was genuinely smiling as I told her about my date with Annabeth, maybe she really was happy for us.

"So I've got to go to camp and give a prophecy, why can't I just do it here?"

"Chiron's worried about you. I mean, it'll be you second prophecy. And the other oracle got well over 60 years to get used to it. He just wants you to be where he can help if anything goes wrong." She hesitated, obviously trying to figure out how she was supposed to get out of school. "We'll get you back in no more than a few days. Why don't you just call your dad..?" Rachel's face was void of any emotions.

"My dad, he doesn't know a thing, he still thinks that the only reason that I wanted to go home during the war was to see you." Her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. "I can't just ring him up asking for a few days off school to deliver a prophecy so that my friend can go on _another _quest and risk his life _again_." Her breathing was heavy. She sat on a chair in front of me and put her head in her hands.

"It's okay. I'll IM Chiron; maybe he'll be able to pull some strings." I stood and pulled her up from her seat. "Let's go find a fountain."

Rachel took off her apron and hung it up on a hook as we left the room. The halls were filled with girls in uniforms the same as Rachel. The teachers eyed us quizzically with raised eyebrows.

Soon we were out in the gardens and at the same fountain where I'd met that Lily girl. I didn't bother looking round when I threw my Golden Drachma into the mist.

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow. Please accept my offering." I chanted into shimmering water. "Show me Chiron at Camp Half Blood." The image changed to show the veranda of the big house back at camp. Chiron and Mr. D were playing pinochle against two invisible players that Mr. D had conjured up. Annabeth and Nico stood against the railing chatting. My heart leapt into my throat when I saw her hair blowing in the gentle breeze. _Gods, she's turned me into a sap. _I must've made an audible gasp or something because Rachel looked over at me critically. Mr.D noticed the iris message and sighed.

"Oh look, Pierre's checked in with that little red headed friend of his." Chiron looked over his shoulder and grinned.

"Mr. D, I would expect you to be more respectful. Rachel is the first _live_ oracle we've had at camp in 50 years. What is it my dear?" I figured that question was aimed at Rachel.

"Hello Chiron, Mr. D. It's just that my school won't just let me go for a few days, and well, Dad doesn't know about all this," she used her hands a lot as she talked, "so he can't exactly help. I was wondering if you could do something." Chiron scratched his chin.

"I'm sure I could do something. Why don't you go up to your dorm room and get some things for your short stay? I'll IM you when we get things straightened up with school." He smiled kindly as Annabeth turned around. I caught a lasting glimpse of her grin as Mr. D wiped away the iris message.

Rachel, perceptive as always, noticed my dreamy gaze.

"You're in way over your head." She teased in a sing song tone. She skipped a little ways of and waited for me. "So how are those driving lessons coming?" She asked me when I'd caught up with her.

"Meh. So-so." So up until we got an IM from Chiron saything that everything was cool with her school, Rachel and I talked about whatever came into our heads. Mainly how things were going with Annabeth. But it was still nice, like how it was before the war. It helped me relax a bit.

But not too much.

Soon enough Rachel and I were walking back to Mrs O'Leary. The trees scratched at our arms and faces. But we got back to the clearing where I'd left my hellhound fine.

Rachel walked upto Mrs O'Leary and gave her a scratch behind the ear. The hell hound's massive tail pounded on trees knocking down branches and making a mess around us. I jumped aboard our tank sized ride and lifted Rachel on behind me. Her thin arms wound around my waist for safety. I didn't feel anything towards the gesture other than my usual ache for Annabeth.

"Ready?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Ready." Rachel replied with uncertainty in her voice as she squeezed my waist harder.

We shot into the shadows and were covered in complete darkness. I felt the cold wind tearing at my skin. There was a sudden sunlight and we burst into the sword fighting arena in the middle of a lesson. A few of the new campers that hadn't really gotten used to mrs O'Leary yet dropped their weapons and hid behind the camp counsellors. They were so young, since the new oath for the gods to claim their kids before they turned 13 the gods had been claiming their younger kids too. Rachel slid off and went to stand by Chiron, who had trotted over to us. Annabeth stood on Chiron's other side with Nico. Her warm smile grew when she saw Rachel. I ran over to her and grabbed her hand. Placing my other arm around Nico's shoulder. He shrugged me off, the fun sponge. But I couldn't help but laugh, quietly to myself, at the look of mock disgust on his face.

I pulled Annabeth to the beach where we sat in the same spot that we had over three years ago watching the fireworks. Annabeth's head rested on my shoulder, her hair swept across my chest. I sat playing with a ringlet and talking with her until we heard the bell for dinner. Looking up at the sky I saw that that day had gone quicker than I'd hoped for. Sure, I was bound to go off on another quest, and sure Annabeth was most likely to be with me, but I wanted to spend as much time with her and my friends without the added pressure of monsters aattacking us every five minutes.

Back in the dining pavilion Annabeth went to sit with her brothers and sisters at the Athena table. While I went to mine on my own. Rachel sat at the main table with the camp directors Mr. D and Chiron. Our eyes met and she smiled at me gratefully. She always wanted to be part of my world, and now she was, she'd never let it go. I scraped a portion of my meal into the sacrificial flame in the centre of the dining area. I prayed to Dad for some help with the whole Ares dilemma.

After we finished eating Chironpounded his hoof against the marble floor and gained the attention of every camper.

"I'm very glad so say that we once again have the company of our dear oracle Rachel Elizabeth Dare." He gestured to Rachel, who's face was turning as red as her hair. "And that she will be staying with us for a few days. I am also glad to say that there will be a special sword fighting tournament tomorrow evening after dinner. If you wish to sign up there are rosters in the training arena and at the big house." He smiled down at us all like he always did in the way most teachers did and cantered back to his spot next to Mr. D at the main table.

The crowd filtered away to their evening activities while Annabeth and I sat at the directors table with Rachel.

"So what's happening next?" Annabeth turned to me.

"Ares said I would need to ask you what I'm supposed to do." I stood. "I guess I'll have to fetch Chrion if we're going to get a prophecy." The two girls nodded at me and continued with their conversation. I jogged off to find Chiron.

**A/N: I thought I'd get this done before Christmas so I'd have a new chapter by the time I get back to school. Hope you've enjoyed the story so far. 3**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: We receive a prophecy.

I found Chiron in the archery arena on his own. He notched an arrow and I watched it soar through the air and land a bull's eye. He notched another but before he could aim I ran over to him at full speed.

"Chiron," I panted. "Rachel's ready." He nodded once and aimed his arrow and fired. Bull's eye once again. He turned to me and I started sprinting back to the dining pavilion. I heard the sound of his hooves pounding the ground as he caught up with me. I then felt a hand pluck me from the ground and I was thrown onto the centaurs back. We reached the dining area within a matter of minutes, where as it would've taken me at least ten if I were to run on my own. I slid off Chiron's back and jogged back to Annabeth's side as Chiron trotted to Rachel's.

"Are you ready my dear?" He placed his large hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She nodded quickly.

"Let's get this done." She looked straight at me.

"O Oracle of Delphi, what do I need to find for Ares?" Rachel suddenly doubled over, spluttering as the words tried to spill out of her mouth. Her body straightened and went ridged. Her eyes glowing neon green like there was a light bulb inside her skull. The only part of her that moved was her lips.

"_Daughter of wisdom, Son of sea,_

_Search ancient territories to find the key._

_Child of Aphrodite help among others,_

_Children of Gods fight for druthers._

_Strive to find the gift in mind, _

_And lose the love they left behind."_

And it was over. Rachel keeled over and was caught by Chiron. Annabeth went over to help her onto his back while I stood shocked. Everything was suddenly moving in fast forward, or I had just zoned out and detached myself. Chiron carried Rachel, slumped over his back, to the infirmary. Annabeth followed nervously nattering about what would happen when Rachel woke. I managed to pull my feet to the nearest table, where I slumped over and slept.

My dreams were filled with images of the quest, the people that would have to go, what we'd have to do. Several times I saw people dying. Annabeth, Rachel, Calypso. Well, Calypso couldn't die. And Rachel was protected by the spirit of the oracle. So I saw Annabeth dying the most, in possibly the most terrible way I could imagine.

"Percy… Percy." An angelic voice stirred me. "Percy!" Hands gripped my shoulders. Shaking me.

"Gahh, what? What do you want?" My eyesight blurred with yellow. I swiped away the hands on my shoulders and saw Annabeth. "Oh. Sorry." I felt the blood fill my cheeks.

"Percy, you were talking in you sleep," she adopted a more thoughtful look, "and, errr, crying." I looked down at the table, Hephaestus, which was spotted with salty, wet tears. Then I noticed the crowd of campers in a ring around the dining pavilion. I blushed right down to my neck. Wiping my cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt I let Annabeth pull me up by my other hand. We walked through the crowd towards the cabins, Annabeth squeezing my hand tighter and tighter all the way there.

I stepped into my cabin, pulling Annabeth in behind me.

"Right, what on earth happened back there?" I couldn't help but look at my feet shamefully. "I'm not angry at you. I just, want to know." She was acting so calm and there I was freaking out, it made me feel even worse if that is possible.

"I was just shocked. I mean, that's the worst prophecy I've heard in a while." And it was true. I didn't really care that I was supposed to die according to the last great prophecy, because it meant that everyone else would live. I sighed and Annabeth frowned.

"It scared me too. But don't think about it too much. You know as well as I that prophecies have double meanings." She stifled a laugh. "Not that you can think with all that kelp in your head." It really wasn't a good time. But I smiled at her effort to cheer me up. Picking her up around the waist I threw her onto the bunk nearest and started to tickle her up and down her sides. Fits of laughter erupted from Annabeth's mouth. Somehow, I managed to resist the urge to kiss her.

"Stop, stop. I can barely breathe." She panted pushing away my hands.

"Oh but my princess, your beauty is rival to Aphrodite's when you smile." I grovelled, bowing low. I'd probably regret saying that later, the goddess of love is very temperamental about her looks.

"How flattering," Annabeth quipped as she pretended to curtsey. "But now it's my turn." Her face adopted a mischievous grin as she pounced on me. Landing the pair of us on the bed, and her lips on mine. And we kissed, for what seemed like hours.

"Aww how cute." A voice squealed from the door way. We both looked up to see which Aphrodite camper it was, but strangely we found Nico. His grin faltered and took on a more serious glare. "Rachel's awake. Chiron asked me to come get you." He was blushing wildly as Annabeth and I brushed out our messy hair and creased clothing.

"Right." I grabbed Annabeth's hand and together the three of us walked to the big house. About half way there the awkward silence had really started to bug me. But before I could do anything about it, Annabeth started talking.

"So since when did you sound like an Aphrodite camper?" she asked Nico with raised eyebrows.

"Well," He coughed deeply. "I tried talking to you normally, but you didn't seem to hear me. So I figured that it was the best way to get your attention." There was obviously something that he wasn't telling us, a deep love for chick-flicks, maybe he was really a girl. My mind drifted to all the different possibilities, each more weird than the last. I was thinking about Nico wearing a bikini and shuddered. Honestly, not a pretty sight. Annabeth looked at me curiously out of the corner of her eye.

"I'll tell you later." I whispered into her hair.

At the big house we met Chiron and Rachel in her living quarters. Rachel smiled weakly at us when we walked in.

"You know we're probably making it out to be worse than it actually is." I never thought I'd see Rachel without the bright gleam in her eyes but there she was, fragile, if anything. I couldn't help but look at Chiron for support.

"She's right. You are probably reading into this too much, like always." He eyed Annabeth and I suspiciously. "And so it would seem, we are in need of a quest." He said as he led us out of the room. "We will talk of this outside. Rachel needs rest." Within minutes we were sat around the Pinochle table on the veranda along with the head of the Aphrodite cabin, Drew. She had only been a counsellor since the previous counsellor, Selena Beauregard passed away during the titan war. Drew was always runner up to Selena. Not as beautiful, never as kind. She immediately put up a cold front.

Arms folded, she gave us only a few seconds after we sat down before she started talking. "I don't want anyone from my cabin going on any quest, anywhere. We're still suffering from Selena's death, we can't lose anymore." Her eyelashes were coated with pink, like usual, and they were extremely distracting. "I need every one of my campers. We need each other. We have to make everything better again." A lone tear dropped off the edge of her lashes and plopped onto the table. Suddenly she was all make up and mirrors, prodding her eyelids with something spongey. Annabeth shuddered knowingly.

"Never do this." I mouthed at her, pointing a thumb at Drew. I noticed Nico perking up out of the corner of my eye.

"What if no one from your cabin had to go? What if," He was pausing for effect, the drama queen. "What if, Selena herself helped you guys?" He looked so proud of himself.

"And how, do you think you can get her to help you?" Drew added sarcastically, still fixing her already perfect makeup. "She's dead remember." Nico looked almost as smug as Apollo after he had made up yet another terrible haiku.

"You underestimate me. All three of us have talked to the dead because of a certain son of Hades."

"Wha… Who?" Drew's sarcastic smile faded from her face.

"Well," I couldn't help but keep this going. Drew was getting seriously annoying. "There's Bianca, King Minos, Achilles. Anyone else you can think of Nico?" His brow furrowed at my mentioning of Bianca and Minos. But he brightened up to torture Drew some more.

"Umm, Beckendorf, Daedalus, Icarus and Perdix. There are heaps. I mean, I live with them." At this, the Aphrodite camper's face was a picture. Her eyes flashed from Nico, to Annabeth, who was chuckling silently at the stand off, to me.

"If you do talk to Selena, I don't want any part of it." And she rushed off back to the cabin area with love struck satyrs and demigods looking on dreamily.

With Drew's exit, the three of us could hardly contain our laughter. Even Chiron had a mischievous smirk on his face. After we had calmed down, the seriousness of the situation dawned on us again. Annabeth spoke before anyone else could.

"So who's going?" Her eyebrows raised. "Nico? If we're going to talk to Selena, we're going to need you." He nodded solemnly. "And I'm definitely going." Chiron placed a large hand on my shoulder.

"So it's settled. I expect you will be going to Greece, Rome, Iran. The Ancient territories. I will IM Olympus immediately and request permission for you three to board a plane, if you feel comfortable with that Percy." His thousand year old eyes stared down at me. A surge of terror welled inside me. I gulped it down.

"Sure thing, I'm the Champion of Olympus. He owes me for saving his civilization." I stood, puffing out my chest a little. "Are we leaving tomorrow?"

Chiron noticed my bluff.

"Yes child, tomorrow. You two should go pack. I need to speak with Percy here." Annabeth tried to use the puppy dog eyes on him, making me wonder if Chiron had fatherly instincts. "Only for a few minutes." And he shooed her away with a wave of his hand. Once they were out of earshot he turned to me, his hooves scraping on the old wood of the veranda. "There is no need to be scared of flying my boy."

"I'm not. I'm just being cautious okay. I'd rather not get blown up along with my best friend and my girlfriend by my uncle, if I can help it." I snapped as I shook off the hand he placed on my shoulder.

"Percy, calm down. It was only a suggestion. You chose however you feel would be the safest way to get to Greece. Flying is only the quickest." He was right, as always. At least this time I'd made a fool of myself there was no one around to witness it.

"Sorry Chiron. We'll fly. I just want things back to normal as quickly as possible." His face softened. "Up by Thalia's tree by nine?"

He nodded. I turned on my heel and started walking to the Cabin area.

"Percy" I heard Chiron call. I looked over my shoulder. "Sleep well." I smiled at him and continued back towards Cabin 3.

**A/N: This took me longer than I thought it would. I had writers block. Thank you to those who have reviewed so far, all positive. Hope you have all had a good Christmas and have a happy New Years. **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: We enter Zeus' territory.

I reached Cabin Three within a few minutes. I stepped across the threshold into my summer home. The smell of sea spray and clean air filled my nostrils and I felt re-energized and cheery as I almost always did when I entered my cabin. I pulled a yellow duffel bag from underneath my bunk and started throwing clothes and belongings into it. Once I thought that I'd packed a sufficient amount of clothing I zipped up the bag and placed it on the floor next to the door.

"Seaweed Brain," I heard Annabeth call. "You should really fold your clothes. They'll get all creased." Her voice seemed to be coming from one of the other bunks. I noticed the silk sheets moving slightly in the bed furthest away. I walked over to where Annabeth lay invisibly and felt for her face, pulling her cap away from her head.

"If you don't like the way I pack, maybe you shouldn't spy on me." I'd never in a million years be angry at her for sneaking up on me, it made her more fun, interesting. Like finding her was a game. I should've known she'd be there. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, hugging me from behind.

"I'm just observing you." She whispered in my ear. She pushed me off the bed and I landed on my butt with a thud.

Annabeth stared down at me with a look of superiority etched on her face.

"You, Wise Girl, are brutal to me." I said as I pulled myself up onto another bed.

"If I thought that you could pack a case properly I wouldn't have to  
creep." She'd already retrieved my bag from the door and started un-  
packing everything, re-folding and putting them back. She pulled out a  
shirt that was already in the case since I'd last used it last summer.  
"Oh my gods Percy, this is disgusting." She groaned as she flung it  
into the hamper at the end of the bed. "How long was that in there?" I  
shrugged my shoulders, Annabeth was better off not knowing.  
"So if you're done packing my case..." I walked over and wrapped my  
arms around her waist. "We can continue." She turned and placed her  
hand on the small of my back my Achilles spot. Sending shivers up my  
spine.  
"No chance Sea Monkey, I gotta sleep." I hoped that my new nickname  
wouldn't stick. Annabeth stood on her tip toes to give me a quick kiss  
and left.

I undressed and got into bed, a wave if paranoia sweeping over me.

I didn't sleep well, as I walked into the dining area; probably  
looking like I'd been pulled through a hedge backwards and punched  
repeatedly in the face the whole Athena table gave me a look of pity.  
Great, I thought, Annabeth told them about my phobia of flying no  
doubt. If only we could go on the pegasi. But they couldn't fly that  
far in one go and they hated Nico, like most other animals.

I sat down at my table and was greeted by a familiar face, Juniper  
the tree nymph stood in front of me holding a plate of toast and a bowl  
of cereal.  
"Are you alright Percy? I heard you were back." She sat and pushed the food  
towards me. Before I could answer the sound of hooves pounding against  
the marble floor came towards us. A brown haired, freckled satyr with  
a grin too big to fit his face placed his hands on Juniper's shoulders.  
"Grover!" My anxiety left me for a split second as I took in the  
face of my best friend. "What are you doing here?" I saw out of the  
corner of my eye that Mr. D was giving us a strange look.  
"Juniper IM'd me as soon as she was certain you were back. Speaking of  
which, why are you back? Bet you missed a certain goat." He turned to  
Juniper. "I told you." They reminded me so much of Beckendorf and  
Silena it was starting to make me wonder who Annabeth and I looked like.  
"I got a quest, man. I'm off to Greece." I told the pair of them about  
Ares and the prophecy.  
"Maybe it's a gift for Aphrodite? Or Hera?" Juniper squeaked.  
"Or maybe it's a weapon of mass destruction? It better not hurt any  
wild creatures." Grover's darkened expression made him look like one  
evil goat.  
"Doesn't matter what it is guys." I reasoned. "If I don't get it for  
him, Ares will probably hit me with every evil curse he's got."

At that moment Annabeth came running over telling me that we had to  
get a move on, or we'd miss our flight. Ten minutes later Chiron, Annabeth, Nico and I stood next to Thalia's pine.  
Silently cursing and dreading the moment that I got on that plane.

Chiron handed me a plastic card with the symbol of Olympus on it.

"A credit card, the money never has to be paid back." He handed Nico and Annabeth one too. "You have access to every type of currency and no need for chip and pin." We each said our good byes and walked down the hill to the van that was waiting for us.

At the airport, I reached my wits end.

"Could we not just get a lift with Apollo or something?" Annabeth punched me in the arm.

"No we could not. Apollo's a god remember, he's got better things to do than ferry us around." She snapped back, gaining a few uncertain looks from the people around us.

"He managed it before." I managed to mutter under my breath without her hearing me. I could see Nico giggling. I gave him my best death glare. It obviously didn't have the same affect as it used to, because Zombie Boy wasn't even fazed.

Ten hours later, I emerged off the plane white knuckled and ready to puke and pass out at the same time. Annabeth gave my hand a soft squeeze as we stepped onto the tarmac. As soon as my feet touched the warm ground I had to resist every urge in my body to get down on my knees and kiss it.

An hour later, the three of us stood in front of our hotel, wondering what we were to do next.

"I think food, then sleep." Nico suggested. I nodded in agreement. It must've been gone midnight in USA, but it was very early in the morning in Athens.

"We really should get started as soon as possible." I groaned along with Nico. I tried the only thing I could think of. Strategy.

"Look," I said to Annabeth, holding both her hands. "If we don't get much sleep, we won't be very good against whatever we may come up against. It wouldn't be a smart move if we were deprived of sleep." She nodded in defeat. "And other than that, Nico looks like he's about to drop dead. No pun intended." He chuckled lightly as a led the pair of them back into the foyer of the hotel.

In our hotel room we helped ourselves to the snacks and sandwiches from the mini fridge in our conjoint room.

"So, err, where's everyone sleeping?" Nico pointed out a situation even Annabeth had over looked.

"Maybe I should sleep next door." Annabeth said. It wasn't a question. Nico immediately started moaning.

"I don't want to sleep next to Percy." He said my name with a tone of disgust he obviously inherited from his dad. I wasn't too fond of the idea of sleeping in the same bed as him either.

"Yeah well, I'm a girl. And it's my birthday tomorrow. So what I say goes." Her face set in a scowl directed at the son of Hades.

"Pleeeeeeeaseee" He whined, trying to melt Annabeth's heart with a pair of puppy dog eyes. She shook her head defiantly; there was no way that she was backing down. Nico stood and backed into a wall.

"Fine then, I'm going to get a sleeping bag so that I can sleep on the floor." And he melted into the shadow, leaving Annabeth and I with a plate full of sandwiches.

Nico came back while Annabeth was having a shower. Carrying a large bedroll under one arm and with his sword in the other he tumbled backwards out of the closed door.

"You weren't gone long." I commented from _our_ bed as he huffed and puffed, regaining his breath. After a few more seconds of panting he acknowledged my statement.

"An emposai." He rolled out the sleeping bag at the base of the bed. "Walked into an alley way after I got this thing, and there she was, sucking some poor mortal's blood." He shuddered, which surprised me, because he rarely allowed anyone to see him, disgruntled.

"I'm guessing she saw you? Or you sliced her up or something?" Nico sat next to me, and looked at the blade of his sword.

"Yeah man. Didn't even know I was there." He sheathed his sword, which I had always wondered about. I figured if I was going to ask him, now would be as good a time as any.

"Nico, what's the deal with your sword?" He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and shrugged.

"It's stygian iron. Minos led me to it after I ran away from camp." I nodded, knowing exactly what he was on about. "It was in this grave yard in Boston. It just seemed to fit me, you know?"

"Yeah." I nodded again. "You don't know anything else about it?" Nico shook his head.

"Nah, and I don't want to. I'm happy-ish without any more complications like who used to own my sword." I thought about telling him that my sword used to belong to Hercules, but thought better of it. A yawn shook through him as he stood up again and walked to the door of the bathroom between the two rooms. He was about to knock when Annabeth poked her head around the door.

"Bathroom's free." She said with wet curls and a grin on her face. And then she was gone.

"Finally." Nico groaned as he turned the handle and walked in.

**A/N: Hey guys. Hope you had a good new years and didn't get too wrecked. I hope you like the story so far. Not sure what's going to happen next. Any ideas would be gratefully accepted. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: I see dead people.

It was around midday when the three of us were all finally well slept and ready for an adventure. We walked around Athens looking for the sort of place you could raise the dead without raising suspicion.

"Where are we-"I tried to say before Nico cut me off.

"We need some where out of the way. Normally I'd use a cemetery. But any old hole in the ground will do." A smug look on his face. I gave him a playful nudge with my shoulder. "Shove off." His regular scowl returned.

Annabeth chuckled lightly. "We should head out of town, along Parthinos." I gave her a curious look.

"How do you know everything about this place?" I asked.

She returned my gaze "I've been planning a holiday to Greece for years." She sighed happily. "And now I'm here." My wise girl grinned happily to herself. _She's so cute. _I thought. _How did I manage to land her?_

Nico pulled me out of my reverie with a punch on the shoulder. "Dude, we've got to get a move on. You can't spend all day pretending to be Clovis." Clovis was a son of Hypnos, God of sleep. When Clovis wasn't sleeping, he was day dreaming.

We ended up heading north out of the city and into the vague forest. It was far too hot and dry for my taste, it looked like it had the same affect on Nico but Annabeth seemed to be doing fine. So I didn't complain, too much. Once we'd walked around in the scorching heat Nico decided that we were in a good enough place. Annabeth and I retreated to the shade of a dry tree and left him to his thing.

He honestly looked ridiculous as he did his "son of Hades" thing, with his hands raised above his head he started chanting in Greek. "Σερβίρετε μου" Which my demigod brain automatically translated to "serve me". Nothing happened for a few minutes and I was finding it hard to stop myself from bursting out into laughter at Nico's strained expression. Last time we raised the dead it was a lot tenser. I started to notice the cracks in the dry earth getting larger. A large, ghostly hand erupted from the ground, I felt Annabeth jump next to me. The skeletal hand grabbed at the soil trying to get a handhold. A few seconds another dug its way out of the ground to assist its buddy. After a few more minutes there stood a full skeleton, his bones bleached with age, in tattered clothing holding an aged shovel with the handle broken off. The skeleton regarded Annabeth and I with a cold glare and bowed low, chattering, at the sight of Nico.  
Nico yawned and thrust another shovel in my direction. "I'm beat, your turn to do some work Perce."

My sweaty hands slipped on the handle of the shovel and I stumbled out of the hole the dead guy and I just finished digging. My eyes rested on Annabeth and Nico, who were sat in the shade of a tree staring in to space, or dozing, in Nico's case. My shirt was ringing with sweat. Another liquid substance I'd found that I wasn't able to repel. An idea suddenly came to mind. I stripped off my soaked shirt, gaining a confused look from Annabeth and sneaked around the back of the tree as quietly as I could.

Nico was in a foul mood after his little sweat shower. His hair clung to his forehead as he threw the homemade sandwiches we had packed into the hole, chanting. After a few minutes, I pointed out what I realised might be a flaw in our plan. "Nic, how are we supposed to see Selena, when it's day?" He faced me with a scowl.

"You can still see her. Just not as well, doesn't even matter anyway. It's listening to what she has to say that's important." I turned to Annabeth, who casually shrugged her shoulders.

Slowly, I started to notice movements in the dead and dying trees, like there was a breeze. Annabeth drew her knife. The spirits closest to us hesitated, before dissipating. I got out my pen and looked over at Nico, who still chanting, had beads of sweat on his brow. I uncapped Riptide and more ghosts disappeared. After a few minutes of making arcs with Riptide a ghost came through the crowd that was more dignified than the others. Her features, easier to see than the others, were marred on one side, a contrast to the other which was beautiful, flawless. Selena had come to talk to us.

She knelt at the edge of the hole and dipped her cupped hands in, then brought them to her lips. Selena solidified a little, so we could see the colours of her hair and skin, her locks, the rich brown that it had once been had faded in death. Her pale, blue eyes seemed watery and the blood red battle armour that she'd died wearing, had turned a deep shade of pink. "Hello." Her sing song voice identical to the day she died.

I heard Annabeth sob behind me. "Selena, we've missed you so much." She clutched my arm as if she couldn't stand by herself.

Selena smiled. "I always knew you pair would end up together. And I see you won the war. Congratulations." She bowed her head as if she had nothing to do with our victory. I felt like I had to speak up. But the words failed me. So Selena continued. "I made Elysium. Charlie was waiting for me. He said he'd sat on the same bench until I got there. The only unhappy person in there."

Annabeth sobbed again. "Selena, we need your help." She wiped her eyes and told Selena about everything that had happened since she died. "And the prophecy sent us here."

Selena nodded, considering what to say. "Ares has always been too lazy to do his own bidding. But at least he is offering something in return this time." She winked at me, hinting at my first quest, when Ares tricked me into carrying Zeus' lightning bolt to the underworld. "You need to go to the base of Mt Olympus. There are signs leading to where you need to go, not obvious ones. But if you pay close enough attention, you'll reach your destination." She smiled at us sympathetically, like we'd have a hard journey. Then she looked to Nico. "Thank you, Nico. I needed to check in on these two. Make sure they were doing the whole, boyfriend-girlfriend thing right." She said, making a gesture with her hands like speech marks. "Seems they're doing alright though. I remember when Annabeth asked you to the fireworks earlier in the year. Gods, I knew from the day I met you Percy that you'd end up with my girl here." Her eyes teared up. "I sense I must leave, I am keeping you from your quest, and there is a banging party calling my name. Oh the perks of being dead." She turned and walked back through the trees, the remaining spirits of the dead parted as she walked through them. The three of us stood there as the rest of the dead sauntered off.

Nico ended the silence that had descended on the three of us. "Well that was, educational." He turned back to the tree where our packs sat and shouldered his. Annabeth clutched onto my hand and a warm feeling enveloped me, from embarrassment or happiness I wasn't sure. I tried reassuring her with a squeeze of the hand but I didn't get much of a response, awkwardly, she wiped the tears off her cheeks and sobbed again.

Annabeth was silent almost all the way back to the hotel. "We'll leave for Mt Olympus tomorrow." She smiled weakly. "It'll be nice. But what are we going to do for the rest of the day?"  
Nico shrugged. "I could do with a nap." I was seriously starting to think that he was nocturnal.  
"Well you do that," Annabeth replied. "I think Percy and I will do some sightseeing." I looked at her incredulously and instantly knew that I would be forced to go to every single historical sight in Athens, possibly at knife point.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Nico decides to go to hell. 

You wouldn't think it, but I actually love all that ancient history stuff. It's kind of handy when there are monsters waiting around every turn, learning all this stuff is almost as important as a weapon when fighting of all the nasties. Visiting all of these historical places with _the _smartest girlfriend anyone could possibly have, is definitely a plus side of our relationship.

First place we went to was the Parthenon, pretty much out of respect for Annabeth's mom. Annabeth was telling me something about some bloke called Thomas Bruce and how he took some of the statues years and years ago, and put them on display in the British museum and how it wasn't fair when my stomach growled. If looks could kill, I would've keeled over then and there. "Sorry." I smiled weakly at Annabeth, who brushed me off with a grin. My heart did a little flip at the sight of her looking so happy.

"You really are cute when you're worried." I could tell she was thinking about the most recent time she saved my life, by taking a knife aimed at my Achilles spot, and relief flooded over me; relief that Annabeth was still here, relief that the poison had not spread, relief that we had won the war.

Annabeth linked her arm through mine. "You take in much more information and you're brain will explode." She batted her eyelashes. "Where are you taking me for lunch then?"

We decided to go back to the hotel so that Nico wouldn't starve, strangely though, we found him standing outside the doors of hotel with my old maths teacher, Ms Dodds. As we got closer we could hear him saying. "And tell Father that I was invited on this quest and I will stay with Percy and Annabeth until everything is sorted." He waved her away and gave us a grim smile.

Annabeth jogged ahead of me. "What was that about?"

Nico shrugged nonchalantly. "Dad, you know how he is." He gave me a sideways glance as I caught up with them. "He doesn't exactly like Percy does he?" This was true. I guessed that Hades wasn't going to well, not hate me because Nico wasn't the child of the prophecy. Hades was going to hate me whoever I was. "Yeah well," Nico continued. "He isn't happy about me coming with you pair on this quest. He sent Alecto to bring me back." Nico's face fell slightly. "But I'm not going anywhere. He's going to have to like it or lump it." I looked nervously at the cobbles beneath his feet, waiting for the ground to swallow him up.

"He's going to be unhappy when he gets your message. I doubt Ms Dodds is going to sugar coat it for him." I guess there wasn't much point in getting Nico's hopes up.

He brushed the hair out of his eyes. "He can't hate me much more that he does now anyway. So I guess it's all cool." Nico tried for a grin. But it looked like he was just gritting his teeth to distract him from pain.

Annabeth's eyes went from my face to Nico's. I could almost hear the gears in her mind working. "I don't know what you can do. There definitely isn't much you can do to appease him while you're here." She smiled sympathetically. Then with a clap she said, "so where shall we go for lunch?"

We decided to eat at the hotel. Then afterwards Nico could get his nap and Annabeth and I could do more sightseeing. We sat at a table in a corner of the breakfast room of our hotel with Nico half heartedly picking at a pita bread thing while Annabeth and I chowed down on a bowl of rice and vegetables and stuff. I wasn't paying much attention. Too hungry.

Nico put down his lunch. "I think I'm going to live in the underworld." We'd finished this conversation a good half an hour previous. I probably said something that filled him with confidence like "Cool story bro." My mouth full of rice and raw peppers.

Annabeth placed her fork on the table delicately. "With your dad, why when you have a cabin at camp now? You've been accepted now."

"I've got to do something. I don't think he even likes that I've got a home."

I shovelled pudding down my throat. "Plus you've probably got loads to learn. I mean, you could have plenty of tricks up your," swallow, "sleeve." Annabeth sighed and thrust a serviette in my direction. "That's true. But maybe you should think about it more. Make your decision back at camp." Nico shrugged and walked out of the room dropping his tray of half eaten food in the bin.


	9. Chapter 9

Annabeth and I walked into my hotel room where Nico was asleep on the floor. I threw my bag down on the bed as Annabeth frowned at our friend gently snoring.

"What?" I asked.  
Annabeth shrugged. "I just think he missed out on all the awesome history today." And she grinned at me and gave me a peck on the cheek, "night Percy." 

The dreams of a demigod are never normally all fun and games, the one I had that night was no different. 

I was walking through a deep chasm, the voices wailing all around me. The cliff faces either side of me spattered with yellowing grass and wispy trees. Continuing forward, the colour drained out of the plants, like I was getting closer to death. I couldn't help thinking that I was heading to the underworld _again. _Soon enough it was just rocky cliffs to my left and right. The wailing inconsistently was getting louder and quieter.  
Without my noticing, the gorge grew narrower as I walked, until the sides met, leaving me facing a dark cave. The thing reminded me of the home of Polyphemus, a cavern on a paradise island that Annabeth, Tyson, Clarisse and I rescued Grover and the Golden Fleece from a few years back.

I waited at the entrance to the cave for a few minutes, but eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I crept inside. Hot winds blew all the way through the corridor until I reached the main room.

I was starting to think that there wasn't much that could shock me, after so many years of this whole half-blood business. But I was not expecting to be greeted by Phobos and Deimos, sons of Ares.

Just looking at the pair of them sent shivers up my spine. Phobos smiled at me cruelly while Deimos sharpened various swords, knives and dismantled guns. "Perseus Jackson." Phobos sneered. "Did I not tell you that I would be seeing you again?" Deimos' roaring laughter echoed through the cave. The stalactites above my head shivering purely from the sound that Deimos was making. I thrust my hand into my pocket, bringing out Anaklusmos for protection. Phobos saw what I was doing and stopped my hand with a flick of his wrist. "Wait your turn Perseus. You will get your chance to fail once more. Before you die I mean. But for now, I will allow you to sleep peaceful dreams.

With a wink, the cavern floor fell from beneath me.

The walls of the pit etched with images of all of the things that I had grown to fear. Typhon attacking New York again, Kronos slicing up my friends with a grin on this face, my father, withered and old, fighting for his life. The air was ripped from my lungs as I plummeted indefinitely.

My left cheek stung. Before my eyes could even focus I heard voices.

"Oh Percy, thank the gods." Annabeth gripped me in a hug.

I groaned. "Which ones? I refuse to if they're related to Ares." Rubbing the left side of my face. I tasted salty tears. "What actually just happened?" Annabeth opened her mouth to speak. I cut her off with a glare. "Actually, who slapped me?"

She blushed pink. "I had to Percy; you were screaming and crying in your sleep."

I groaned, crawling out of the bed. "Happy birthday, Annabeth." As I reached the bathroom door I turned to see her trying to contain a grin.

About six hours later we heard our stop being called over the loudspeaker and made to grab our belongings. Plenty of touristy types were grabbing their things too, obviously here to see Mt Olympus, like us. I couldn't help but think about how nice it must be to be normal. To not be related to anything mythical or legendary in any way.

"Okay. So the road to Olympus is that way." Annabeth said checking a map. "Come on guys." I still hadn't told them about my dream. The time hadn't really come up. All we'd talked about on the train was Nico's decision to stay in the underworld indefinitely, Selena and what the thing that Ares wants could be. I was still trying to think about what my dream could have meant, but I was already harbouring an idea that I'd be seeing those two sons of Ares again soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10-

The real Mt Olympus in Greece is about 9570 ft tall; about 10,000 people climb it a year. I was just hoped who or what we were looking for lived at the bottom.

If anyone was suspicious of three teenagers obviously not from the Mediterranean they didn't say. The dirt track up from the entrance to the national park led through some parched looking trees. Looking down into the valley beneath us I could see the green of the leaves and felt slightly jealous for the creatures living in the dry area we were walking through.

After a mile or two of walking I started to notice something.  
A lot of the trees were blown over. And it wasn't like this part of Greece was known for its wind. Annabeth looked as if she had noticed something too.

"What?" I asked her. "Noticing any subtle signs?" She didn't look happy.  
"I'm not sure. There's something wrong." She replied, shaking her head.  
"It's colder in that direction." Nico pointed westward. "Not like a heat colder, more like an eerie colder." I raised my eyebrows in reply to his comment.

Even Annabeth looked sceptical.

"Look, there's something in that direction. I can feel it okay." Nico spat.

I raised my hands in defence. "Alright, that way we go."

So we headed west Nico leading the way. After a while I could see what he was on about. It was like there was a trickle of icy water in my veins but there was more and more after every step. After another mile it felt as though my insides were made of ice, even as the heat of the sun made my skin feel no different.

Nico had led us past a stream, through an orchard of dead trees and almost of a cliff when he announced that we were close.

We joined him at the edge of the cliff top he had nearly stumbled blindly over moments before and looked down. The ground below looked even more barren than that above the cliff. On top of it being the perfect place to get ambushed by some beast there was a sheer drop that the three of us had to climb down to get there.

"Go on then Percy." Nico prompted.

"Why do I have to go first?" I whined. "Why can't you go down first?"

Nico shrugged. "Your quest mate."

I looked pleadingly at Annabeth, who replied. "You are the one with the invincibility. I'm really the only one of us that should be worried."

My mouth hung open. "How'd you figure that one out?" I couldn't believe she was up for climbing down that cliff.

She stood hand on hips and I knew I'd lost. "Nico can shadow travel down. If you fall you can't get hurt, but if I fall I'd splatter like a bug." I saw Nico grinning out the corner of my eye. "Can you even have a plus one when you shadow travel?" I turned to him, resigned to the fact that I would be shining it down the side of a cliff momentarily. He nodded. "Not very often mind so don't ask." He winked at me as he grasped Annabeth's wrist. "Have a nice climb. A small white cloud passed beneath the sun, but it was enough for Nico to pull Annabeth into the shadows.

With a thud I heard the pair of them tumble out from the shade of the cliff face. I looked down at them waving up at me and I realised with a shock that the cliff was higher than I thought, a lump rose in my throat. With a little difficulty I swallowed in and started to make my way down.

After some time, and quite a lot of instruction from Nico and Annabeth, I jumped down from a ledge a few feet from the ground. The knees of my jeans were threadbare and my shirt was not without a few tear. I was sure that my hands should've been bleeding, but when I looked down they were fine. I had been starting to doubt that I would ever get over how amazing that was.  
"Nice of you to join us." Nico said sarcastically.

I scowled at him. "On the way back, we're going round." Annabeth wound her arm around my back and placed her hand on the small of my back. A small shiver crept up my spine as I saw her smile out the corner of my eye.

"So," I said, trying to distract myself. "Lead the way Nico."

**A/N: Umm I've been meaning to finish this for months. But there it is. **


	11. Chapter 11

The chasm turned into that of my dream fairly quickly, the sense of Déjà vu that struck me wasn't uncommon, though still startling. When the cave appeared, Nico and Annabeth looked at me uncertainly.  
"Still got that feeling Nico?" He nodded, "and it's leading to in there?" I pointed into the darkness. He nodded again. I sighed, turned on a flashlight, and stepped into the shadows.

Annabeth's hand slipped back into mine, "Percy, do you know what's in here?" I hadn't wanted to tell them about my dream until it was necessary, and considering the circumstances, I began to tell them about Phobos and Deminos, starting at when I'd fought them alongside Clarisse.

I'd just gotten to the part of my dream where the floor of the cave fell in, when the hot wind hit our faces as I'd explained it might do. The sons of Ares stepped into our line of sight.

"Jackson!" Deminos started, black armour, javelin, scars and all. "Fancy seeing you here."  
I noticed he wasn't so intimidating without his sea monster, or his fire breathing horses.  
He didn't look very pleased when I told him so.  
"You on a quest for dad?" A teasing voice echoed round the cavern, Annabeth huffed a breath out of her nose in annoyance, but her hand clutched mine tighter. Nico looked mildly interested. Phobos joined his brother in front of the three of us, although, his entrance was more impressive than that if his sibling, having the dust on the floor build up and then unfold around him, leaving him, leather clad, stood at Deminos' shoulder.  
I straightened my back. "Yes, well, it was either that or get blasted. And I would like to at least try and live past twenty." Nico snorted. I imagined him sticking his tongue out at the minor gods. Deminos went to take a step forward, but Phobos placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. The shared a look and grinned at each other.

The tense silence that had spread over the space between us was cut by Annabeth's gasp. Her hand was shaking in mine, fragments of a sentence tumbled over her lips. And the darkest part of the cave moved.

Nico was the first to truly understand the situation. Phobos was feeding off of Annabeth's fear and distracting me by conjuring a massive spider out of mist, as if it was a simple card trick. He drew is blade of Stygian iron and faced the brothers, ignoring the spider completely. By this time half of the creature had crept into the light of my torch, it's legs were covered in thick hairs, it's eight eyes were glittering with manufactured evil. I had faced Phobos before, still I had to remind myself that this was only a projection of Annabeth's arachnophobia, a fear that all children of Athena seemed to have. I looked back towards Nico, who was walking in a circle around the offending brothers. I unwrapped my girlfriend from around my arm and uncapped anaklusmos, joining Nico and the sons of Ares. Phobos switched his attention from Annabeth to Nico, and as the giant spider disappeared in what I could only describe as a puff of smoke, the dark figure of Hades loomed over my cousin.


End file.
